


Absolution

by AzuraJae



Category: Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Genre: ...no one can., Adventure, Angst, Can anyone hear me?, Canon Compliant, Drama, Drama & Romance, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Missing Persons, Mystery, Post-Canon, Romance, Slow Romance, where am i?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-20 23:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30012594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzuraJae/pseuds/AzuraJae
Summary: ‘Kumandra wasn't built in a day,’ her father had always told her. Raya always knew that the road to unification wasn't so easy, neither was rekindling her friendship with Namaari. But she should have known better. Raya had been caught up cultivating a friendship she had always wanted. It hurt all the more when that someone suddenly disappeared.
Relationships: Namaari/Raya (Disney), Raya & Sisu (Disney)
Comments: 22
Kudos: 229





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Small AN before we start: This takes place about a month or two after the film's ending. The assumption is that most of the main cast and tribes are idling about in the Heartlands for one reason or another. I tried to write this as canon-compliant as possible, but I will be introduce canon-like themes and the like. As I am actually Indonesian, I sprinkled in a bit of my culture in because I can (LOL) and it makes sense in-universe (nothing too flashy).  
> And big thanks to my cousin, Nick, for proofreading and editing my story!
> 
> I really enjoyed the movie, and especially Raya and Namaari, but this story is also to fill in the gaps and expand on themes and relationships from the movie.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy the story!

Raya had only dreamed of life like today. Living like this was something beyond her wildest imagination, something a naive child version of her would’ve only believed. The fact that Kumandra was becoming a reality still felt unbelievable.

The past few months, all the tribes had gathered in the Heart and celebrated their victory over the Druun and the unification of the tribes. Everything was just perfect, in fact the only thing that Raya really missed was the thrill of combat, though Namaari seemed all too happy to spar with her whenever.

Speaking of, Namaari has changed a lot over the month. A lot of what grated Raya in the past faded away. No more was the smart-mouthed better-than-you attitude that the Fang princess usually carried, she was kind and polite. It was honestly scary, how meek and friendly she had become. It seemed so unlike the Namaari she knew. Somehow, the development made it easier for Raya to look past the woman who tried to kill her a few months past and see her as a friend again.

There was a problem though.

Namaari always seemed to make an effort to draw a line in the sand when it came to anyone else, even around her own people. Whenever Raya tried to invite her to hang out with the gang, she would find some way to weasel out of it and head elsewhere. Honestly, Raya understood if she needed a little alone time, Raya herself wasn’t really all that used to hanging around people that much yet either, but if Namaari wasn’t training or doing work, Raya would always find her idling alone.

“I...don’t have any friends.” Namaari admitted when Raya had asked.

“ _ Really _ ?” exclaimed Raya incredulously. “Thought you were joking about the whole ‘crazy cat lady’ thing.”

“...Yeah.” Namaari looked a little awkward, raising one hand to fiddle with her hair. “Can’t believe you still remember… that.” She sounded embarrassed.

“That comeback was maybe on the top 10 most annoying things you’ve said to me, how  _ could  _ I forget.” Raya scoffed, hoping to lighten the mood, though Namaari looked even more embarrassed.

“Uhm, sorry.”

Seeing as Namaari was getting uncomfortable, Raya decided to just smile comfortingly and leave it. “So, no friends? Not even with the people in your tribe?”

“I’m the chief’s daughter. Not exactly in a position to be ‘hanging out’ like this.” Namaari explained, emphasizing the last part with her hands.

“Oh, I guess things are different in Fang, huh?” stated Raya, sort of in sympathy. She couldn’t even imagine having no friends in her childhood. “Wait, does that mean…” Raya leaned towards her now-friend, who looked nervous. “ _ Aww _ , Namaari, am  _ I  _ your first friend?”

The woman stared blankly, stunned by the statement. “I guess you were.”

Raya scoffed. “I’m sure you meant to just say ‘yes’. We’re friends now, right?” She touched Namaari on the shoulder.

“Yeah.” She said after a while, giving her companion a small polite, shy smile. 

Raya had been taken a little aback, expecting some sort of sarcastic quip from her instead of a shy one. It was a little strange, this new Namaari was  _ kinda _ creepy. Though she supposed that this was just one of the things she had to get used to in this new world of Kumandra.

But humans being humans, it was only a matter of time before distrust and discourse reared its ugly head again, once the high of surviving the Druun began to wear off. The cracks of the unification began to show and Raya realized it had been foolish to believe that things would be alright after the ‘happily ever after’.

There was a general consensus among the tribes against Fang. It was hard not to, they were technically the ones responsible for it all. The hushed whispers of the people around her made it difficult for the people of Fang, Namaari included, to really fit in.

Her father had been handling most of the tribe negotiations and she knew a little of what was going on. Tail residents seemed eager to move from the dry lands into the much more fruitful lands of the Heart, an action that her father welcomed. Things with Spine seemed to go well, mostly due to Tong’s influence. Talon wanted to set up a marketplace in every land and even though it was taking a bit longer to plan that all out, it seemed to be going well. While there were still many kinks to work out, the biggest problem was the mistrust between Fang and the other clans. Chief Benja seemed to be the only one willing to give Fang another chance, leaving the reunification discussion at an awkward stalemate.

The going-ons with her other friends seemed alright, Sisu seemed to wrangle everyone up for some free time almost every other day, but Namaari only seemed to drift further away, growing a little more quieter each day. She took more time to herself for ‘work’. It seemed like she was deep in thought about something, but Raya couldn’t really figure out what.

One day, Namaari approached her, looking rather upset. Raya assumed it must’ve been about the negotiations earlier that day, something she couldn’t attend because she was handling some diplomatic stuff as the ‘dragon ambassador’, whatever that meant. Apparently because Sisu’s her friend, suddenly Raya was the ‘chosen one’ expected to handle favors and relations between them.

But putting that aside, she had heard from her father that Namaari had been present at the meeting instead of Chief Virana, who returned to Fang to oversee some of the repairs to the city. Even though the meeting had started out amiable at first, it seems that some of the meeting members recognized Namaari as the one who instigated the Druun six years ago. Maybe it was just too soon, or the meeting was always doomed to break down, but it was all it took for Namaari to walk out of the meeting before it ended.

“I heard what happened at the meeting.” Raya sympathized. “Are you okay?”

The Fang princess didn’t answer right away though Namaari seemed slightly relieved to see her. But her expression changed into something much more grim, the most serious Raya had seen her since the dispellment of the Druun. “Raya, if it was a matter of life or death… would it matter how you felt?”

“Where’s this coming from?” asked Raya, confused.

“I need your answer.” she said simply, in a tone reminiscent of how Namaari used to talk.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I guess not?” Raya answered honestly. “Though sometimes it’s better to do what you feel is best, so I guess it would... matter?”

She took in Raya’s anwer with the utmost seriousness. “Thank you.” Then she gave her a nod of her head and walked away before Raya had a chance to question her about it all. Namaari seemed to be thinking about something, but Raya honestly wasn’t sure if their friendship level right now was enough for her to pry for details.

Namaari seemed distant after that. Raya often saw her quietly studying scrolls, one time even talking to a dragon. If Namaari wasn’t meek before, she certainly was now.

It would be almost another month later when Raya finally managed to convince Namaari to hang out with her and the group again.Everyone’s families were stopping in town for one way or another, so they decided to just hang out for old time’s sake.

She was running a  _ bit  _ late to the meetup, she had been helping her father with some stuff. Honestly, Raya didn’t even realize how much work being a princess really was until now, running around for six years trying to find a river almost seemed preferable. 

Walking down the hallways of her home, Raya was overcome by the atmospheric nostalgia that the walls of this place held. It was hard to think that not too long ago, this place was a deserted derelict and she was on the run, being hunted by none other than Namaari. 

She finally found their new meeting spot, a little newly constructed house that her father allowed her to use whenever her friends came to stay over in the Heartlands for a while. It was a nice scenic place, close to the water where the view was fantastic, as it had always been.

Even before she stepped into the room, a large figure appeared by her side, startling him with a slap on the back. “Ah, there you are!” The hulking figure of her Spine friend exclaimed loudly. “I was worried the Druun had gotten you.”

“Hey guys, long time no see.” Raya greeted her friends. Little Noi came waddling towards her and Raya leaned down to give her a hug.

“Raya!” Sisu exclaimed cheerfully. “Also, don’t be silly, Tong, there aren’t any of them left!” She was in her human form, shoveling food into her mouth.

“It’s just an expression.” The man said cheerfully.

Boun approached her, a bowl in his hands and a suave grin on his face, handing it to Raya as she stood up. “Saved some for ya, any longer and the baby would’ve eaten it all.”

Noi made a grumpy face and one of her ongis flipped a spoon right into Bouns face, causing him to drop the bowl. Thankfully, Raya was close enough to scoop it up before it clattered to the floor. Noi giggled happily as Boun turned to her in annoyance.

“Keep that up, and I’ll tell your mother.” Boun warned, picking up the spoon on the ground and waving it at her threateningly. Noi scoffed, but then he smirked. “ _ Or,  _ maybe I won’t be making  _ someone  _ any more of my world-class famous congee.”

Noi gasped and made a frustrated sound, causing more of a ruckus. Though Raya didn’t feel the need to participate in the core of the hubbub, watching them like this felt comforting. Her family had always been her father and her, not that she minded, but she wondered if this is what it would be like if their family was bigger.

After a moment of enjoying the ‘show’, Raya noticed that there was one person missing from the group, the person she had actually been looking forward to most to meeting. She glanced around and noted that there were only enough bowls for the people already here. She stopped Boun with a hand, quieting the conversation for a moment as she looked to the others.

“Where’s Namaari?”

At the sound of her name, Raya noticed that her friends had grown strangely silent. They exchanged awkward looks with each other, except for Sisu, who sat up and looked around curiously, unaware that anything was going wrong.

“I could’ve sworn she was right here a moment ago.” Sisu looked to the others, clearly waiting for someone to chip in. When someone didn’t right away, Sisu finally seemed to pick up that something was amidst. 

“She said she wanted to eat alone.” Boun said after a while, with a little shrug. He gestured vaguely out the window in one direction. “Out there.”

“ _ What _ ?” Sisu exclaimed before Raya could say anything. “That’s no fun, then let’s go out there too!” With a whirl, Sisu was now a dragon again, bouncing up on all fours. She was about to take a step towards the door, but noticed that no one else had made a move with her. “What’s wrong? …Why do you all look like that?”

“Listen, dragon.” started Tong, a serious tone to his voice. “I know you mean well. But that girl, she’s Fang.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Sisu sat down again, looking even more confused.

“You don’t get it, Sisu, she’s  _ the  _ Fang. You know, the one who broke it all.” Boun spoke up, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "Hanging out with her is a little…" He made a face, a mixture between discomfort and disgust.

“You don’t trust her.” Raya stated, finally saying the words that were in the air but not spoken. Somehow, hearing this sort of hurt. Raya hadn’t realized that her friends still thought like this. Though in hindsight, it made sense, Namaari doesn’t hang out with them much. Their impression was still mostly the same as it was when the ordeal ended, maybe a  _ bit  _ better since Namaari still held up her part during the final stand. Though that didn’t seem enough to change their overall opinions.

Sisu looked thoroughly shocked, but at the same time heartbroken. “But you  _ must  _ have!” She made a gesture with her hands, fidgeting slightly. “Otherwise the gem wouldn’t have worked.”

“It’s more like I trusted Raya, who happened to trust the girl.” Tong picked up Noi, who just babbled. 

The dragon looked to Raya, looking sadder than she did before. “But Raya,  _ you _ trust her… right?” 

Suddenly put on the spot, all the room’s eyes turned to look at her as they waited for her response. She swallowed nervously and met Sisu’s eyes, who was looking at her so earnestly. The words Raya wished to say couldn’t seem to come out.

“You know what, I’ll go check on her.” Raya said finally.

Sisu looked upset by her answer, but gave a small nod as she looked down at her congee bowl. It looked like she wanted to say more, but the revelation of this seemed to upset her. It was a bit harder for the conversation to pick up after that, but Raya didn’t really stay to see how it would all pan out. 

Exiting the room, Raya walked outside, feeling the fresh cool evening air wash over her. She looked around, seeing if she could spot where Namaari could’ve gone. After a moment of just wandering around, Raya finally spotted her, a little ways away. She was sitting on a ledge alone, staring out into the nighttime scenery; a bowl of untouched congee next to her.

“Hey,  _ dep la _ .” greeted Raya, trying to sound as friendly as could be. Her voice seemed to startle Namaari who jumped a little. She calmed down after a moment, but still looked nervous. “Looking mighty strong and mysterious there.” Raya smiled, sitting down next to her, the bowl of congee on her lap.

Namaari looked at Raya for a moment, her eyes darting around, like she wanted to say something. She seemed tense.

“Why are you out here?” asked Raya, trying to create any semblance of conversation. Though she instantly regretted asking at all, considering the fact that she knew exactly why Namaari was here on her own instead of with everyone else.

“I don't belong there.” Namaari answered after a small silence. “It's better this way.”

“This is Kumandra.” Raya put a hand on Namaari’s shoulder. “ _ Everyone  _ belongs here now.”

“ _ Hmph _ , you’ve always been sappy.” Namari said, a hint of her old personality rising to the surface as she patted Raya’s hand on her shoulder. A second passed and she took the hand off her. “It’s too late for me.”

Hearing this, Raya put aside her congee bowl and sucked in a deep breath, realizing that the conversation now was making her lose her appetite. Not that the topic disgusted her, somehow it just didn’t feel appropriate to be stuffing her face right now.

“Give people some time. It’s only been a few months.” suggested Raya, trying to sound encouraging and hopeful, though honestly it was a bit awkward; Sisu was better at this kind of thing than she was. “I think it’s still too early to say that for sure.”

“Trust is earned, not expected, Raya.  _ You  _ know this better than anyone.” Namaari glanced at Raya before looking down at her hands. “I didn’t earn your trust, I didn’t deserve it.”

Even though it hadn’t been said, Raya  _ knew  _ she was referring to the final stand against the Druun. They never really brought it up in conversation before, it was all just a really awkward subject, so Raya was a bit taken aback when Namaari just brought it up like this.

“You don’t get to decide that.” scoffed Raya lightly. “ _ I  _ get to decide who deserves my trust.”

Namaari shook her head. “You had  _ every  _ reason not to trust me.” She clasped her hands together, giving Raya a serious look. “If we had been in  _ any  _ other situation, would you have trusted me?”

“I-I... “ Raya stuttered, finding herself unable to answer right away, but Namaari seemed to take her silence as an answer and looked away. Raya tried to speak up again.“If I hadn’t been so hasty in the meeting before, I would have-”

“I’ll put it another way, Raya.” Namaari cut her off before she could continue. The warrior princess hopped off the ledge they had been sitting on, her back still to Raya. “You may have trusted me at that _ moment _ ... but do you forgive me? For stabbing you in the back? Not once, but  _ twice _ ? For taking _ your father _ away? For  _ killing _ Sisu? For putting you through six years of isolation and suffering?” Namaari looked back at her, an expression full of regret and anger, eyes tearing up. "Do you really... forgive me for all that, Raya..?” Her voice was shaky, quiet. The guilt in her voice was agonizingly clear.

Raya opened her mouth to speak, but it was like she was choking on air. The heroic and more diplomatic side of her wanted to say yes, that  _ of course  _ she forgave her, that things are alright now, but… somehow she just _ couldn’t _ . Maybe Raya had just been caught up in the high of the idealism of Kumandra and seeing her father again that she had forgotten how painful it had been those six years. Hanging out with Namaari these past few months as friends were great. It was honestly one of the things she always looked forward to nowadays, something some part of her always wanted but thought was lost. But all that trauma and pain wouldn’t just wash away just because things were better now, even if Raya pretended they were.

It would still take a while for the nightmares to go away.

The silence must have been painful. Namaari's face twisted up in obvious pain; she just wanted Raya to just say  _ something.  _ But in a moment, all that suddenly faded and her expression grew strangely complacent. Somehow, it looked like she had given up.

“Namaari, I-” Raya tried to say, trying to find a way to weasel her way out of the implications of her lack of an answer.

“You’re a good friend, Raya. A friend that someone like me doesn’t deserve. You’ve been reaching out to me despite what I’ve done to you. These past few months… they’ve been fun.” Namaari turned her back to her once more, her voice tight with grief. “But don’t be sorry. I wouldn’t have forgiven me either.” 

Namaari turned around and started walking away, head down. She was rubbing her arms and judging by the way her shoulders shook, Raya could tell she was crying.

Stunned, Raya had trouble trying to figure out what to say or do. She just looked after Namaari, mouth agape. When her bearings finally kicked in, Raya tried to stand up, calling out to her friend. “Namaari, wait! That’s not what I meant!” But Naamari didn’t stop. 

She watched her friend disappear out of sight and Raya just slumped back down unable to make herself run after her, still shocked by her own feelings and how she felt about Namaari. Raya had thought she had already forgiven her after spending the last few months together...but it still seemed all too soon.

“ _ Good job _ , Raya.” She muttered to herself. Raya hadn’t meant for the conversation to end out this way. She had the full intention of approaching Namaari to cheer her up. Have a nice convo like they had so many times before in the past few months.

Raya felt sort of silly, thinking that it had all been roses. It was obvious that it would still take some time for their friendship to mend, but somewhere along the way, Raya must’ve forgotten the real issues they had to sort out. They always danced around the topic of the past, it almost seemed better that way. Sisu must’ve really rubbed off on her; she had been naive to think that they would be able to pick things up from where they left off six years ago. Too much has changed, even if they had their little happily ever after.

Ugh, life was just so complicated.

It took a while before Raya felt the will to move again. The mixed emotions she felt were overwhelming. She thought about looking for Namaari again, but it felt like she may just make things worse. Maybe she would try talking to her tomorrow, to clear things up. She noticed her own bowl of congee was untouched, but she had lost what little appetite she had. Namaari had left her bowl here too. Feeling a mix of guilt and sadness, she picked up the two bowls to return to her friends inside.

To her surprise, Sisu was nervously waiting in front of the entrance. Upon seeing her, the dragon approached her, a look of happiness on her face that quickly changed when she saw Raya was alone.

“Where’s Namaari?” Sisu asked, her eyes glancing towards the two bowls in Raya’s hands.

“I think she needs some time alone.” Raya told her friend. She handed the dragon the two bowls. “Here, you can have this, I’m not hungry.”

Sisu took the two bowls, looking crestfallen. “You know, now that the Druun are gone, I thought things would be okay now… but there’s a  _ whole  _ lotta drama I wasn’t ready for. You humans are so  _ complicated.  _ Everything was going so well at first, but now… I just wanted everyone to be friends, I  _ thought  _ we  _ were…”  _

Understanding Sisu’s plight, Raya patted the dragon on the arm. “It’s been 500 years of animosity between the tribes. There’s no way all that is going to just vanish in a few months, Sisu. I think everyone just needs a little time, even Namaari.”

“It would be nicer if everyone just became friends.” 

“Baby steps, Sisu. Even if it’s slow-going, everyone is slowly making steps in the right direction.” At least, that’s what Raya hoped.

Sisu smiled at Raya’s words and offered her one of the bowls back. “I know you said you weren’t hungry, but just have a bite.  _ Come on,  _ I heard that stomach rumbling.”

Raya looked at the bowl and hesitated for a moment. Then she sighed and reached out to take it back from Sisu, who gladly gave it back. “Maybe just a little.”

“Then let’s go back in! Tong said he was going to teach us a fun Spine game!” Sisu said, gesturing towards the inside. She still looked a little frazzled by what happened, but looked to be making an effort to keep the positivity going. Raya smiled, one of Sisu’s strengths.

She was about to follow Sisu, but a churning heart stopped her just as she was about to step in. Raya looked back out into the shadowy lengths of the night time scenery. The warmth of the light and people inside could only go so far in the darkness outside. Namaari was out there in the darkness, alone. Somehow, it didn’t feel right to leave her out there, but Raya felt helpless. Even if Namaari had been the catalyst for all that happened, did she really deserve to be out there alone?

“Just need some time.” Raya murmured quietly to herself. She clutched her bowl tightly, hoping that just thinking about it very hard would magically make things feel better.

Though if Raya knew that this would be the last time she saw Namaari, then maybe she would have gone out and looked for her after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Unfortunately, Raya didn’t see Namaari today. Or the next. Actually, for the  _ whole  _ week now. And counting.

Some part of Raya was glad that she didn’t have to deal with the problem quite yet. It was suffocating leaving their relationship as is, but the heaviness of the topic at hand… well, it was easier to fight the Druun than deal with this. There were so many ways that Raya could make this worse. But at the same time, Raya feared that if she didn’t do anything and let it fester, the relationship with Namaari she had grown to treasure might stay dead for good this time.

Raya  _ knew  _ she cared about Namaari. In spite of the six years of bleak hope, trying to kill each other, betrayal, it seems that inside, Raya had  _ always  _ wanted to be Namaari’s friend. Things had been awkward sometimes, sure, but Raya had considered them pretty close. It was a friendship much different than the one she had with Boun, Tong, Noi, or even Sisu.

There was this certain… intensity she didn’t really know how to explain. 

So even as she tried to push the anxiety aside, Raya knew that she couldn’t ignore or try to pretend things were alright. The whole week without contact felt like someone was poking her in the back of her head, reminding her of what she said, what Namaari said; it was haunting. 

The past few days, Raya had tried to look for Namaari, but she was just nowhere to be found. She started to get the feeling that Namaari was avoiding her, which made the whole situation just that much worse. Raya contemplated whether or not the friendship they shared was even salvageable at this point.

She soon got her answer of why she couldn't find Namaari a few days later, but the answer wasn’t at all what Raya had expected.

In the past week, Raya noted the increasing number of Fang warriors milling about the Heartlands. At every corner, at every hallway, the numbers only seemed to grow with each passing day. One morning, Raya had woken up to find the number of Fang warriors had almost doubled from the previous day. They all seem pretty tense, worried.

It would be a lie to say that it wasn’t totally nerve wracking as all hell. It was almost like the entire Fang royal army was crawling all over the place. As much as Raya wanted to put her grievances about Fang as a tribe aside, Raya couldn’t help feel uneasy about this whole thing. They weren’t about to stage an attack… right?

The questions didn’t stay unanswered for long, as that same morning, her father had sought her out to tak to her.

“Ba, what’s wrong?” questioned Raya as soon as he was within earshot. She glanced around at all the soldiers. “Is... Chief Virana back?” She asked, trying to rationalize why there would be so many Fang guards around.

“She is back, but that’s not the reason for this.” Benja answered, his expression grim despite his efforts to seem pleasant.

“So... what is the reason then?”

“Dewdrop, you wouldn’t happen to have seen Princess Namaari, have you?” her father asked carefully.

“Not for a while, why?” There was a small bubble of worry now forming inside her when Benja’s face grew even more serious. “What’s wrong, Ba?”

“Namaari hasn’t been seen for almost two weeks now.” Benja explained, crossing his arms and sighing.

“What? Wait... _two_ _weeks_?” Raya was shocked, not only of the fact but also that she didn’t even _know_. She had been angsting about Namaari this whole time and had no idea she was even missing. Somehow, that made it all feel _much_ worse. “Then why are they just looking for her _now_? Shouldn’t we do something?” 

“They had been aware of her disappearance and have been looking since, but they didn’t want to cause a panic. I offered to help, but Virana said that this was a Fang matter.” Benja told her. “According to Virana, her daughter likes to go on solo hunting trips sometimes, so  _ supposedly _ there’s no cause for worry. But it’s been too long a while and her people were getting worried.”

She couldn’t even believe her ears. This was the  _ last  _ thing she expected to happen.

Wait _...A few weeks ago _ . 

Raya suddenly had an epiphany. The last thing Namaari had said to her that night; Raya should have paid more attention. It had sounded like a goodbye. All that tension that had been building in her system the past few days just boiled over the surface, causing Raya to break out in cold sweat. “Ba… I may have…” Her knees felt weak.

“What is it, dewdrop?” Her father looked worried. He took her hand and brought her to a nearby bench to sit down. “You don’t look well.”

“I may have… maybe I said- or did something to upset her.” Raya admitted, Namaari’s guilt-stricken face flashing before her eyes. “I-I didn’t mean to.”

Benja looked confused. “What do you mean?” Before he could add anything else, the sound of footsteps caused the two to look up at the approaching people.

“Namaari is not the type to run away and cry about petty things.” Chief Virana said, followed closely behind by bodyguards. “It did not look like she was taken by force, so she must have left willingly… My daughter must have her reasons.” Virana paused for a moment, looking a little wistful. “Namaari is a grown woman and can make her own decisions.” The chieftain just sighed and gave Raya a polite nod and smile. “There is nothing to worry about, Princess Raya.”

“There must be something I can do.” Raya suggested hopefully, but Virana just shook her head.

“Keeping an eye out is enough. Namaari will be back.” the older woman said simply. Then she paused. “If she wants to.”

Raya was befuddled by such a strange answer and just watched Chief Virana walk away with the guards trailing behind her. She wanted to speak up, to protest or ask about what she meant, but Virana had already turned the corner by the time Raya thought to say something. Instead, she turned to her father, who had a similar worried expression on her face.

“This isn’t right.” she told her father, shaking her head. “We can’t just sit here and do  _ nothing.  _ What if she’s in trouble? Or worse?”

“I’m sorry, Raya. My hands are tied. We can’t force them to accept our help.” Benja rubbed a hand on his daughter’s back. But he gave her a gentle smile. “But if a certain Heart princess wants to look into it, I’m sure no one would find out.”

She was a bit confused by what Benja said, but then she picked up on what he really meant and smiled. Raya leaned in and gave her father a strong hug. It was great to have her parent back in her life at times like these.

“Thank you, Ba.” informed Raya, standing up. “I think… I’m going to go talk to Sisu.”

“Alright, Raya. Stay safe.” Benja told her. “Just keep it on the down low, okay? Not many people know she’s even gone. Not even her own people.”

She gave her father a goodbye nod and headed towards the bustling town, toward the docks and the water, where she knew Sisu would be. On the way, Raya took in the busy sights of the people doing their daily duties. It all was so lively, with all the people having moved from the different lands. It was awesome to see, honestly. So different from how desolate this place had been not too long ago. The fact that Namaari could disappear here, amongst all these people, made it all the more unnerving.

Raya made it to the docks before long and looked about for her friend. There were some people busy on some of the boats and docks, but she didn’t spot the familiar mug of a certain dragon. Raya leaned over the side, over the water to dip her hand into the water. Just as soon as her finger broke the surface, there was a series of splashes coming from not too far away.

Suddenly, Sisu’s face burst out of the water before her, causing Raya to recoil in shock as fresh cold water drenched her face. 

“Raya!” The dragon greeted cheerfully, crawling out of the water. She picked up her friend, setting her right side up and wiped her face. “How have you been? I thought you had some human leader stuff to do.”

“Not today, thankfully.” Raya tried to smile a greeting, but her true emotions must’ve shown through because Sisu frowned.

“You don’t look very chipper.” Sisu commented. “What’s wrong?”

“Sisu... have you seen Namaari?”

“Namaari?” She tilted her head as she thought for a moment. But then she shook her head. “No not really. Haven’t seen her for a  _ long  _ time now.”

Raya gave a disappointed sigh. She had hoped that Sisu, being a mighty all-knowing dragon and all, would know what was, and maybe is, happening. Judging by Sisu’s genuine confusion, it looked like Sisu had no idea.

“Namari’s missing.” Raya said somewhat curtly. “For a while now.”

“Missing _!?”  _ exclaimed Sisu, hopping on all fours and twisting her tail aggressively. “W-why didn’t anyone say anything? We  _ have  _ to go look for her!” Sisu was just about to grab Raya and start flying off, but Raya reached over and grabbed Sisu’s arm to get her to calm down.

“Hang on, Sisu.” Raya said, looking up at meeting the eyes of her worried dragon friend. “Her people already know.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s great and all, but now that  _ we  _ know,  _ we _ should also go look for her.”

“They don’t think she’s in danger.” continued Raya.

Sisu scoffed. “Just because  _ they  _ think that, doesn’t mean she  _ isn’t _ . Come on, we have to go look for her!”

“We don’t even know where to  _ start. _ ” Raya pointed out. “Where do you think you’re running off to?

“Oh… right. Sorry, got a lil’ carried away.” Sisu instantly slumped back down, but she was still frazzled. “So… when’s the last time you saw her?”

“That night.” Raya said bluntly.

Sisu’s expression grew even  _ more  _ worried. “That was almost  _ two weeks _ ago!”

“But I might’ve not been the last one to see her.” rationalized Raya. “Someone else in town might’ve seen more.”

The dragon’s face brightened a little more. “Oh, is it time to play detective? Maybe the good ol’ good guard, bad guard dynamic? Oh,  _ oh _ !” Sisu put her hands on Raya’s shoulders. “I’ll play the good guard,  _ obviously.  _ But you’d make the perfect bad guard!”

Raya laughed a little at the absurdity of Sisu’s proposal. At this, Sisu giggled as well. “You laughed!” Raya then realized that Sisu had done that on purpose, to cheer her up. The princess offered the dragon a good hearted pat on the shoulder to let her know she appreciated it.

“We have to keep things a bit more on the down low, unfortunately.” Raya told her dragon friend. “It seems that Chief Virana doesn’t really want this all to be public.”

“ _ What?  _ That’s ridiculous!” Sisu crossed her arms. “I say we should just tell everyone. The more eyes and ears, the better!”

She shook her head. “As much as I would like to do that, upsetting Chief Virana might make the whole unification discussion thing sourer than it needs to.” Raya looked towards the people. “But we should still look into town, see if we can find anything out.”

* * *

-~*~-

Even though Virana and her father had requested for Raya to keep things on the down low, it seemed that all really didn’t matter. According to the people she tried asking, Fang soldiers had already been asking people something similar, causing many suspicions and rumors to arise. It worked to Raya’s benefit, there’s no need to be shy about asking what’s what if everyone already knew. But she had also seen the worried glances of the Fang tribe, what few dared to go to the new marketplace anyway. Sadly, the Fang tribe tended to keep to themselves. Raya could now see why Namaari kept away herself too.

Despite the rumors, Raya and Sisu could not find a single thing out about Namaari’s whereabouts. 

“This is going  _ nowhere. _ ” hissed Raya to Sisu, who was currently in human form at the moment, to cause less of a ruckus. “No one seems to know anything.”

“Don’t worry, Raya.” assured Sisu. “I’m sure we’ll find a lead  _ somewhere.  _ We just need to ask  _ harder.”  _ She emphasized this by hitting her fist on the palm of her hand.

“I hope so.” Raya stated simply. She was about to turn another corner, when she heard a voice call out for her. 

“Princess Raya!” It was one of the nearby stall vendors. Raya turned around to see a young woman, a gentle look on her face. She approached the stall, confused to why a random woman would be calling out to her.

“I’ve set up my stall here for weeks now hoping to catch you someday.” The woman told Raya, reaching out for Raya’s hand and enclosing it in hers. “I just wanted to thank you for taking care of my daughter.”

“Your daughter?” Raya repeated, a little confused. At that moment there was a familiar giggle and little Noi popped out of nowhere, landing right into Sisu’s arms, followed by her three little companions.

“Oh, little Noi!” Sisu exclaimed, giving the baby a hug. Noi squealed in delight, hugging Sisu. 

“You’re Noi’s mother!” Raya exclaimed, surprised to see her there at all.

The woman nodded earnestly. “I can’t thank you enough for watching her. When the Druun came and I had to-” Her voice got caught in her throat, her eyes welling up with tears. She brought her head to Raya’s hand as a show of respect. “I didn’t know what was going to happen to her once my husband and I were gone.”

It was like the worries that were piling on Raya’s shoulders disappeared in that moment. The sincerity of Noi’s mother was all too heartwarming. Raya couldn’t help but smile. “It was my pleasure.” She touched Noi’s mother on the shoulder, bringing her up. “Noi is a very smart baby.” 

“She’s  _ just  _ like her father.” She wiped away the tears in her eyes, her expression trembling. “ _ Thank you. _ If there’s  _ anything  _ I can do for you,  _ please  _ let me know.”

Raya was just about to tell her no, but paused for a moment, remembering what she had come to the marketplace to do. “Actually, I have something to ask you.” The woman perked up, listening. “I’ve been looking for my friend, Namaari.”

“Namaari? The Fang princess?” Noi’s mother was a little puzzled.

Nodding, Raya continued. “Did you happen to see her, maybe two weeks ago?”

Noi’s mother thought for a moment, before shaking her head slightly. “I’ve only just moved in around that time. I didn’t see her either.” The woman looked upset that she couldn’t help more.

“That’s alright, thanks anyway.” Raya sighed, just another disappointing lead to the pile. She gestured to Sisu, to let her know they were going to try elsewhere. 

As Sisu was handing Noi back to her mother, the woman spoke up again, her face lighting up. “Wait! I don't know if this is related, but you can try asking the Tail Mercenaries. They set up on a street over there.” She pointed in the direction. “My husband had moved in here ahead of us about a month ago. He warned me about going to that area of town, that there was someone suspicious seen hanging around there.”

“A lead!” Sisu exclaimed excitedly. “Told you we were going to get one!”

“Great, we’ll go check it out.” nodded Raya. “Thanks for the tip. Take care.”

“Please come by if you have the chance, princess! I’ll always have a meal ready for you!” The woman called out as Raya and Sisu walked away.

After sometime walking, Raya and Sisu managed to reach the street that the Tail mercenaries had supposedly set up a base on. But it was less of a base and more of just a shady street with gruff looking people milling about. Her father had actually been worried about any potential shady dealings, but the mercenaries seemed… civil. Mostly.

Taking a step onto the street, all eyes turned to her. Many of them seemed to recognize her as the princess and as the one who ‘saved’ the world, though some don’t seem bothered at all. Those who were bothered, offered her respectful glances at best. Raya singled out two mercenaries who had actually taken the time to actually nod to her. It seemed like they were the friendliest, they would be the easiest one to talk to.

“Wow, this place’s a little… grisly.” Sisu commented, sticking close to Raya as they approached them.

The mercenary pair was a man and woman, and upon seeing her approach them, they stood up and greeted her. They seemed a little younger compared to their peers here.

“Is… there something I can help you with, princess?” The man asked, friendly but also apprehensive.

“I’ve been informed of some shady happenings here.” Raya started, gesturing to her pouch, patting it and making the jade she kept there inside. The two instantly perked up. “Do you guys know anything about them?”

The mercenary woman laughed. “As you can see, we’re all a little shady here. You’re going to have to be more specific.”

“We’re actually looking for our friend, Namaari.” Sisu spoke up. “Have you seen or heard anything?”

Before the two mercenaries could respond, there was a throaty scoff from next to them. “ _ Heh _ , so if the Heart princess is looking for her, the Fang  _ binturi  _ really  _ is  _ missing.”

Hearing this made Raya’s blood boil. “ _ What  _ did you say?” She looked to see who had spoken. It was an older mercenary, an eyepatch on his eye and several scars carved into his face. Your typical Tail mercenary.

The man shrugged. “Nothin’. Just that, good  _ riddance.”  _

Raya couldn’t contain her anger. She marched over, tightening her fist and shoving her face right in his. Immediately the mercenary was on the defensive, raising his hand, but his expression showed that he wasn’t very intimidated by Raya.

“Raya, stop!” Sisu put her hand on Raya’s arm, trying to get her to calm down, but Raya didn’t really hear her at that moment.

“Say that  _ again. _ ” growled Raya, rolling her neck cracking it a little. “I  _ dare  _ you.”

“I’m just sayin’ what everyone wants to hear.” The man sniffed, glancing around at the other mercenaries around him. “No one wants  _ her  _ around. Nuthin’ but trouble. First she broke the gem, what’s _ next _ ?  _ Killing _ a dragon?” Raya heard Sisu suck in some air at that.

Raya just  _ snapped. _

That last part just hit too close to home. She raised her fist, ready to deck the mercenary right in the face. But before she could reel back and throw a punch, something splattered against the guy’s face. Raya recoiled from the strong smell of the smashed substance and took a few steps back. Whatever it was, smelled just like a bowl of the hottest  _ cabai. _

“My eyes!” The mercenary howled, taking a step back, recoiling from whatever was on his face.The people who were with him looked shocked.

Confused, Raya turned to see who had thrown it, only to see Boun there, carrying a sack full of whatever he just threw at the man.

“Boun?” Raya and Sisu said in unison, surprised by his entrance.

“You wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for that ‘Fang  _ binturi’. _ ” stated Boun, wiping his nails on his jacket as if he had done some amazing feat. Though to be fair, this was an amazingly hilarious feat.

The mercenary managed to wipe off some of the fruit with a rag handed to him by one of his companions, who had been idling beside him the whole time. “Keep telling yourself that, kid.” He stared down Raya again. “We  _ all  _ know what she’s done.”

He spit on the ground, grumbling and turned to leave. Raya was about to follow up and continue her punch, but Sisu grabbed her arm, shaking her head. “Raya, don’t waste time on a man like him. We need to find Namaari, remember?”

Raya grumbled a bit, but then took a deep breath, calming her spiked nerves. She turned to look at Boun who approached her with a smirk on his face.

“Was stopping by to pick up some spices and I saw you needed some help.” he stated.

“What was that?” Sisu asked, pointing to the sack he was holding.

The young boy took out one of the fruits and with a smile. “One of the spiciest and most smelly fruits around. A great addition to  _ any  _ congee.” He snickered. "He'll be smelling it for  _ weeks _ ."

“Thanks.” Raya said, reaching over to ruffle his hair. He looked displeased by the action, but she could tell Boun was smiling underneath the scowl.

“Don’t mind him.” The mercenary she had been speaking to before spoke up. “He’s a nasty one.”

“Gets work done though.” the other shrugged. “Though, you pay extra for the attitude.”

“Sounds like he needs a hug.” commented Sisu, scrunching her face. Even though she meant it sincerely, the two mercenaries chuckled.

“Not even a basket of jades would make me do that.” The woman mercenary said with a snicker. She then turned her attention to Raya. “So about what you said before: Sorry, no. We didn’t see the Fang princess. Nothing suspicious either.”

“Actually, didn’t the Tail Blazers get hired for something?” The man pointed out to his female companion. “A cloaked individual came from the direction of the palace. Near where the Fang are staying actually. Paid a  _ whole  _ lot of Jade for something.”

“Oh yeah…” mused the woman. “That happened about a month or so ago. Pretty normal gig all things considered, but...I guess pretty weird in hindsight.”

Raya exchanged glances with Sisu, before turning to the mercenaries. “Did you happen to see who the cloaked person was?”

The man shook his head. “We didn’t see anything, just heard of it. Rumors and whispers flow like milk and honey here. Not sure where the Tail Blazers are, but they should still be shuffling about. Business is good here in Kumandra."

“I see. Thanks for the info.” Raya reached into her pocket and pulled out a small handful of jades and tossed it towards the two. “Here, for your time.”

“ _ Siip _ .” The woman grinned, catching the jade coins offered. “If you need anything done, Princess, you know where to find us.”

“Thanks again!” Sisu called out as Raya took her hand to lead her out of the shady mercenary street, Boun following close behind. 

As soon as they were clear of the street, Boun spoke up. “So… Namaari is missing? I heard she was, but I thought she had just holed up in the palace.”

“Yeah, we’re looking for her.” Sisu answered sadly, then she perked up. “Have you seen her?” When Boun shook his head, Sisu’s expression immediately deflated.

“At least we have a lead now. Two of them.” Raya tried to smile, though honestly the information they just obtained was vague at best and only worried her more. 

It opened up a myriad of possibilities that didn’t end well for Namaari. A suspicious cloaked figure? From the palace? A bunch of mercenaries hired? All of it was pointing to foul play and Raya wasn’t liking the implications one bit.  _ Or  _ this was all a red herring and they were no closer to finding Namaari than when they first started. Raya couldn't decide which was worst.

Sisu stared at Raya blankly, not catching on. “Which are…?” 

Raya lifted up a finger. “Number one: the palace.” She lifted up her second finger. “Number two: the ‘Tail Blazer’ mercenaries.”

“The Tail Blazers?” exclaimed Boun. “They’re one of the best mercenaries around! My sister says that they can do  _ anything…  _ granted you have enough jade.” He coughed a little. “I actually had wanted to join them… y’know, when I was a kid.”

“But you’re still a kid.” Sisu stated blankly.

“I’m a very  _ mature  _ kid.” Boun answered back matter-of-factly.

“Since we know where to go, we should head to the palace first.” Raya looked to Sisu. “We can’t waste anymore time. I’ll see you later, Boun. Thanks for the help.”

Her friend nodded, but just as Raya was about to turn and walk away, Sisu turned to Boun one more time. “Boun, thank you for defending Namaari. I’m sure she would  _ really  _ appreciate it.”

Raya froze, suddenly realizing what had happened before. She had been so riled up, she didn’t even notice what Boun had said at the time when he chucked that fruit. Surprised by her own realization, Raya turned to look at the young boy, who looked quite serious.

“I’ve been thinking about it…When Namaari left that time, she looked _really_ sad.” remarked Boun, kicking the dust with the sole of his sandal, looking a little sheepish. _“_ Well, I thought, _maybe_ I’ll give her a second chance someday. But I can’t do that if she’s missing.”

Sisu grinned. “We’ll bring her back, so you can give her that second chance. ” She glanced at Raya. “Right, Raya.”

“Of course we will.” agreed Raya. “Thank you, Boun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the plot thickens~ I wanted to include a bit of everyone's character here, even though someone like Noi wasn't going to participate a lot in th overall plot. I'm implying a lot and making my own canon in terms of how Kumandra is forming and how the Tail mercenaries work, I hope that isn't too off-putting (I don't really have any other reference for the movie outside the movie itself). Hopefully this chapter didn't seem too unbelievable!
> 
> Also wanted to say thanks for all the lovely comments! I really wish AO3 had a way for me to like them because I don't have time to respond to them all! But wanted to let you know I appreciated all the comments! Until next chapter :D
> 
> EDIT: Small note, but I forgot to explain one part. At one point, one of the Tail Mercenaries says 'Siip'. It's actually Indonesian slang for 'okay', mostly used over text nowadays. Thought it would fit so I added it in.


	3. Chapter 3

“Are you  _ sure  _ we should be  _ sneaking  _ in?” Sisu asked as she watched Raya climb the side of the palace wall, landing right on the balcony. “How about we bring Chief Virana a present and  _ then  _ ask her about the cloaky guy?”

Raya leaned over the railing, talking down to her friend who was staring at her from the ground. “She doesn’t want us involved in the search. My Ba said it was okay to look around, as long as we keep it on the down low. Now are you coming or not?”

“Okay, I guess.” Sisu morphed into her dragon form and slithered up the side of the palace wall with ease, landing next to Raya. “I still think we should just give Chief Virana a gift and skip the whole covert ops thing.”

“It’s too late for that now.” Raya told her friend, slipping through the open window. She went over and opened the double doors to let Sisu in. She then looked around the room they had entered. “Wait… this is Namaari’s room! I’ve been here a couple times when we hung out.”

“Really?” exclaimed Sisu, sticking her head in. “Looks kinda empty…”

“It’s just temporary. She and Chief Virana are staying here until the repairs are finished at Fang.” Raya explained, walking into the room, scanning the area. “Their whole city was torn in two, many of their people are refugees here.”

There was nothing really out of the ordinary. No suspicious markings, no signs of battle or a struggle. It just seemed like a normal room. There wasn’t even anything noteworthy on the desk, though this may all just be that room may have been cleaned out already. Approaching the bed, Raya saw something shiny sitting on the pillow out of the corner of her eye. Taking it in one hand, Raya recognized it. Grinning, she showed it to Sisu.

“Oh, it’s  _ me _ !” the dragon exclaimed, excited to see a silver pendant. “Is this the pendant you gave back to Namaari?”

“Yeah…” Raya smiled a bit, somewhat nostalgic.

It seemed so long ago, that they were just kids. Namaari had just given it to her and Raya had been so excited. Even after the betrayal, Raya couldn’t find herself letting go of it. Whether it was because it was a pendant of Sisu or because she wanted to hang on to a part of her childhood, holding it always made Raya feel calmer. 

Honestly, she needed a bit of that calm right now. Raya still had  _ no  _ clue what happened to Namaari, if she was okay or not, and the worry had never stopped dogging her every step. The anxiety of losing a friend she grew to treasure kept her on her toes. But this pendant, it was something that both she and Namaari shared. Maybe if she concentrated hard enough, maybe she could reach wherever Namaari was right now.

“It’s a pretty pendant. It suits you, the  _ both  _ of you.” complimented Sisu. “And I’m not just saying that because  _ I’m _ on it.”

“I always thought it looked better on Namaari.” Raya quipped. She raised it up to eye level, letting it sway slowly in her grasp. Namaari had always been fond of it. “I wonder why she kept it here…”

At that moment, the door to the room slammed open. Raya and Sisu jumped, startled by the noise and the clattering of footsteps of the people entering. Raya nearly hurled the pendant to the ground in shock, but she grabbed it before it hit the ground. When she looked up, Raya found herself staring down several spears. She slowly met the eyes of the soldiers holding them and cursed underneath her breath, raising her arms. Though after some of them realized a dragon was with her, some of them grew uneasy. Some of them completely sheathed their weapons and instead greeted Sisu with respect.

After a moment, there was another rush of footsteps and Chief Virana walked into the room, an unreadable expression on her face. When she recognized who the intruders were, she frowned.

“Uh oh.  _ Busted. _ ” Sisu leaned over and whispered to Raya. “Told ya we should’ve brought a present.”

After a moment of just staring at them, Virana waved her hand at her warriors. “Stand down.” The warriors quickly returned to an idle pose.

“I see you have a habit of collecting things that are not yours.” Virana noted, glancing at the pendant in Raya’s hand. She then looked at Sisu, greeting her respectfully.

“Oh, uh… are you still angry about the scroll thing?” Raya stammered, smiling awkwardly, trying to seem friendly. “Um...I gave it back right?”

“I am  _ so  _ sorry, Miss Virana.” Sisu spoke up, putting herself between them and inadvertently, squashing her friend against the wall. “We  _ meant  _ to get you a gift, but we just didn’t have the time to pick out something you’d like,  _ y’know  _ how it is with presents and stuff.” The dragon grinned sheepishly.

“You do not need to do anything of the sort, great Sisu.” Virana assured her with a respectful nod. The older woman turned to the soldiers. “You may leave us.”

Raya watched from where Sisu had her pressed against the wall as all the Fang soldiers filed out of the room one by one, the last one shutting the door behind them. Virana then turned to look at Raya who was peeking over Sisu’s fuzzy shoulder.

“I take it that you both are looking for my daughter.” the chieftain said, taking a few steps forward, placing a hand on the empty bed, a melancholic look on her face.

“That’s right.” confirmed Sisu, taking a step forward to finally let Raya free. The dragon looked to Raya with an ‘I told you so!’ face.

“Fine, you’re right. We should have gone with your plan.” Raya hissed at her, patting her friend on the nose. Raya approached Virana and bowed a little. “Sorry for sneaking in without your knowledge, Chief Virana. I am just looking for my friend. _ ” _

The woman froze for a solid second. She then sighed, a melancholic look on her face as she approached and put a hand on the empty bed. “I’m glad Namaari has people to call ‘friends’ now. She has never been a very social person.” She settled down on the bed and formally turned to Raya.

Taking this as a cue to get settled down, Raya took a seat next to the chief on the bed. Sisu approached Raya’s side, bowing her head so she could be at eye level with the humans. 

“Namaari has not been herself the past few months.” Virana began, yet again with that wistful face. “She seemed deeply obsessed with researching something.”

“Researching?” That was the first time Raya had heard anything of that.

“The attendant I assigned to keep an eye on Namaari said she was looking into ancient Kumandra text.” The Fang chieftain continued. “We never did figure out what she was looking into, she was very secretive about it.” Virana then reached into her pouch and pulled out a scroll, handing it to Raya.

“What’s this?” asked Raya, taking it from her. She opened up the scroll curiously and saw that it was a map.

“This was the only thing found in her room.” Virana revealed. “That, and the pendant you are now holding.”

Sisu had shoved her face beside Raya so she could look at the contents of the map. “Looks just like a normal map to me.”

“It is because it is.” sighed Virana, standing up again. She walked to the window, hands behind her back. “Namaari is looking into something serious, I am certain of it. But it is unusual that she would keep it from me.”

Raya glanced at Sisu, contemplating on whether or not she should reveal what they know. Sisu seemed to understand her gaze and nodded slightly. “Seems like some of the people saw a cloaked person wandering around here and the market.” Raya spoke up. “Chief Virana, have you considered foul play?”

“Yes, I have.” the chieftain answered. “But there is one important detail that makes me believe Namaari left on her own: Namaari’s serlot is also missing.”

“That doesn’t mean that she isn’t in danger.” Raya countered.

Virana paused for a moment. “I suppose that’s true.” She sighed. “I… just want her to be safe.” She continued, pacing a bit. “Our security detail has seen no signs of a mysterious cloaked individual, but we will keep an eye out. Though, I do not think it is related.”

Raya took a moment to take all the information in, before rolling up the scroll and tucking it under her arm. “I see.” She stood up and gave a polite nod to Virana. “I’ll keep looking on my end, if that’s alright with you.”

The chieftain nodded. After a moment, the woman’s expression changed into something quite unreadable. She walked to Raya, causing her to stand up to face the chieftain. “Princess Raya, I want to personally apologize for what happened six years ago.”

Taken aback by the sudden apology, Raya could only stammer. “Oh, it’s...okay…” She mostly answered out politeness and not necessarily because she forgave Virana. Though, the older woman seemed to sense this.

“Back then, I made a grave mistake sending Namaari as I did. Namaari has only been doing what I told her. If I did not plan what I did, perhaps we would be at peace without the unnecessary pain and suffering.” Virana pursed her lips, her gaze falling to the ground between them, clutching her hands together. “I am grateful that Chief Benja accepts us here in this new Kumandra, but... not everyone has been so accommodating.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed.” Raya replied rather bleakly.

“The situation has taken a toll on my daughter as well. I can see it in her eyes. Because of my mistake, I fear she bears the brunt of the blame and guilt, not for only herself, but for her tribe and even Kumandra itself.” At that moment, Virana looked so weary. Her normally poised shoulders slumped and her expression was just filled with grief.

“I do not know where she is or why she left. I wish to find her, but our numbers are limited due to repairs on the city. I fear if we confirm her disappearance, someone will take advantage of it.” Virana then bowed her head, making that familiar gesture of respect with her hands that sent chills up Raya’s spine when she realized. “Our people love their princess and  _ I  _ love my daughter…” Virana’s expression was fairly muted, but her features indicated that she was in pain. “Please, if you are able to... bring Namaari back. I want to apologize to her, for being the one who had led her down this path.”

The whole scene felt so surreal, Raya couldn’t move for a while. She felt like a rabbit that had been cornered by a serlot and was awaiting its doom. The last thing she  _ ever  _ expected in her lifetime was the leader of Fang to do  _ this. _ It had only occurred to Raya that  _ Virana  _ would also be feeling this guilt. It may have been as intense as Namaari was feeling, but the Fang chief seemed good at handling it. Though her impression of Chief Virana was neutral at best, seeing how sincere she was at this moment made Raya feel like she could trust her. In a way, Raya understood her anguish, this was how she felt when she lost her father.

Raya must’ve been in her own thoughts for a while; it was only when Sisu’s furry tail brushed against her arm did she realise where she was, bringing her back to reality. Raya returned the gesture, giving Virana a sincere look.

“I’ll do my best, Chief Virana.”

Beside her, Sisu just smiled. 

* * *

-~*~-

“The Tail Blazers should be right here, across the bridge and a little to the west.” the man pointed at a spot on the map Raya had opened. “They should have a camp set up in a forest clearing.”

“You best get going, princess.” The mercenary lady next to him warned. “They don’t stick around long in one place.”

Raya took a moment to mark down the location on the map with a pencil, before closing the scroll and tucking it in her belt. She then took out several jades and handed it to the mercenaries.

“Thanks again for the business.” the man thanked, pocketing the money.

“We  _ would  _ help more,” his partner continued. “But we’re just two small-time Tail mercs at the bottom of the food chain. Nothing personal, but we don’t want to get on the Blazers’ bad side.”

“This is enough.” Raya responded with a nod. “I have all I need.”

Raya let the two mercenaries go and went back to Sisu, who was waiting close by. Night was falling and the shadows danced in the streets under the light of the street torches that had now been lit up. After the encounter with Virana, Sisu and Raya were peacefully allowed to leave, even got to keep both the pendant as well as the scroll. Seeing as how the palace seemed to be a dead end, Raya and Sisu got to work chasing the other lead instead.

Finding the ‘Tail Blazer’ mercenaries was a bit tougher than strolling up the palace and climbing in. Looking for info on them herself seemed like a waste of time, it was clear that she wouldn’t be able to find them herself. That’s when she remembered the two mercenaries she had met earlier today, who with a little digging was able to find the general location of where the Blazers should be.They declined to help her further, but finding a location was enough anyway.

“Are we going to prepare a gift this time?” Sisu asked naively, falling into step beside Raya as they headed towards the bridge that connected the Heartlands to the mainland.

“Yup.” Raya answered. She picked off her pouch of jades and shook it a little, making the coins clink inside. “There’s nothing mercenaries like more than money.”

“Oh… that makes sense…” she sounded disappointed. “I guess I was expecting something more extravagant. It sorta feels like we’re bribing them.”

“That’s one way to look at it. We’re  _ still  _ giving them a present right?” Raya stated.

“I guess so…” She still seemed disappointed. Sisu then glanced at the sword dangling from Raya’s hip. “Then why are you bringing that?”

“Insurance.” Raya patted her favorite sword. “And for good luck.”

Raya  _ had _ contemplated bringing more help, just in case. Even though Raya came bearing ‘gifts’ under Sisu’s insistence, if they had really been involved in Namaari’s disappearance, there’s a real good chance that things would turn sour very quickly. Plus the fact that the two mercenaries didn’t want to help them was another red flag. But there wasn’t  _ really _ anyone to ask.

Asking Virana or her father for help might cause a ruckus big enough to damage current relations with Tail or worse. The two mercenaries didn’t want to help, as said before. Tong wasn’t around and the idea of willingly bringing Boun and Noi into unnecessary danger didn’t sit well with Raya. No, there was nothing to do, but hope that things went smoother than that time with Namaari. 

Raya grimaced, she still regretted attacking Namaari back then.

By the time they made it across the bridge and towards the meeting spot, evening had finally arrived. It made the shadows of the forest seem much more sinister, even with the comforting presence and light of a lantern. Feeling uneasy, Sisu shuffled a little closer to Raya, practically clinging onto her human friend with her claws.

“Do we  _ have  _ to do it at night? They’re probably asleep, right?” The dragon swung her head to and fro, anxiously. “Maybe we should wait until the sun comes up and invite them to breakfast or something.”

“If we wait until morning, they might not be there anymore.” She reached over and patted Sisu on the hand, a small gesture of comfort. “Don’t worry, Sisu. I’ll protect you.”

“H-Hey, I’m the dragon here!” She managed to say bravely, letting go of Raya’s shoulders and walking on her own. “I should be the one protecting  _ you.” _

Raya just laughed, but that was when she spotted the familiar dancing light of fire. It was still too far away to tell who was around, but at least for now, they seemed to be heading towards the right place. The two followed the light for a few more minutes when Raya began to feel as though something was watching them. She paused for a moment and listened.

Sisu, anxious about why they had stopped, lowered her head, making herself flat against the ground. “Why are we stopping?” When Raya didn’t respond, Sisu began to panic. “Raya? Why aren’t you-”

“ _ Shh.”  _ Raya whispered, grabbing Sisu’s muzzle shut. She turned her head to Sisu’s, her eyes barely visible under the moonlight. “We’re being watched.” Raya mouthed to her.

There was a rustle in the bushes and Sisu jumped, curling a little closer towards Raya. Unnerved by the feeling that something was circling them, Raya put a hand on her sword, ready to pull it out on a moment's notice, but she tried to keep her pose calm. Whoever or whatever was stalking them didn’t need to know she was scared.

The flash of a blade in front of her finally indicated that someone was there. 

Sisu squeaked and instinctively jumped into the trees above as Raya whipped out her sword and blocked the attack before the metal could connect with her flesh. From the light of her lantern, Raya could see a dusty mask with a fiery emblem blazened on the forehead. 

Managing to get the upper hand, Raya shoved the attacker back and kicked them in the chest. “I’m not in the mood for a fight.” She warned. “Are you a Tail Blazer?”

Before she could get an answer, there were the light footfalls of someone next to her and Raya turned to intercept another attack by. Using the whip nature of her sword, she disarmed him before socking him right in the nose, knocking him right out. Her lantern had fallen to the ground and ended up lighting a nearby bush on fire, brightening up the area considerably.

“Whew, okay.” Raya shook her hand, now aching from the pain. The person who first attacked her had gotten up and tried sneaking up on her, but Raya elbowed him and shoved him aside with the hilt of her blade. “ _ Enough _ of this, where’s Namaari?”

Instead of another answer, another figure appeared from the shadows, brandishing a blade. Sometime during the next moment or two, Raya got caught up in the heat of combat. She had no idea where Sisu had gone, but the next moments were just a flurry of movement and blades. All that Raya focused on was fending off the attackers and _winning._ After a while, it was clear that these were the Tail Blazer mercenaries, the way they acted and moved in a group was reminiscent of the mercenary gangs she had faced before during her travels in Tail.

She managed to pin down one of the aggressors. With one knee on the man’s neck, Raya pointed the edge of her blade at his neck. “Where’s Namaari?” She growled. 

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The pinned man gurgled, trying to lift Raya’s knee off himself.

“I didn’t  _ want  _ to fight, but  _ you  _ started it.” Raya narrowed her eyes. “Now you  _ better  _ answer my question.”

So focused on interrogating her pinned target, Raya didn’t notice someone else sneaking around beside her. In a flash, Raya found herself being blindsided by a kick from one of the many attackers. The attack caused Raya to drop her weapon, which was soon swept up by this new attacker. Raya tried retaliating, but the threat of the blades soon got Raya to raise up her hands and stand down. It was clear she lost, there was no way she was going to win against multiple armed people.

“You wouldn’t come here if you didn’t want something.” the new attacker barked. Raya noticed how the mask of this particular mercenary looked different. The leader perhaps?

“I’m  _ only  _ defending myself.” Raya shot back. “I just wanted information.”

“Don’t we all.” The person coldly replied, holding Raya’s sword in their hand. “You made a mistake coming here.”

As soon as the person took another step to start his attack, there was suddenly a downpour of rain. It instantly put out the fire and under the cover of darkness, Raya ducked and backed away. Sisu suddenly dropped down from wherever she had been, growling. Her fur glowed menacingly and fog filled the area.

“A dragon…!” Raya heard the people whisper, some in shock and some in total excitement.

“She _told_ you _enough._ Back _off,_ bucko.” Sisu fumed, raising her head high above them in an attempt to intimidate them. It seemed to have worked because some of them had shuffled back while others meekly kneeled down, having given up the fight entirely. Their supposed leader stood front and center, looking a little like he had lost his mother at the marketplace.

“Where  _ were  _ you?” Raya breathed, exhausted. She was suddenly aware that she literally had been running the  _ whole  _ day without a break. She didn’t even take a break for lunch. They  _ really _ needed to get something to eat after this, Raya noted as she leaned against her dragon friend, trying to regain her bearings.

Sisu looked at her with a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I sorta got… stuck.” Raya gave her an incredulous look, unable to comprehend what she meant. “In the tree.” She pointed with her tail, up at one of the trees which had several broken branches. “When I got scared.”

“...Right.” Raya nodded half-heartedly, chuckling slightly to herself, reaching over to grab her weapon again.

“We didn’t mean to upset you, Sisudatu.” The supposed leader of the group said, a little nervous judging by the sudden politeness. “We just wanted to protect our camp.”

“ _Oh,_ buddy, if you don’t want me to bring down the wrath of _all_ the dragons, you better _sit_ your pretty little butt down and answer my friend’s question.” Sisu emphasized her words, by flaring her mane a little and fluctuating her glow. Funnily enough, the man actually kneeled down.

Raya could tell that Sisu was trying her best to seem like she had more authority, but to Raya, who knew that her dragon friend didn’t have  _ one  _ mean bone in her body, it was lowkey hilarious. If it wasn’t already for reverence people already had towards dragons, Raya didn’t think this threat was going to work. Acting like this was  _ clearly  _ out of Sisu’s comfort zone, but it seemed like the only way to end the fight without any bloodshed. 

“The Fang Princess Namaari,  _ where _ is she?” Raya stepped forward again, having finally caught her breath. Bolstered by Sisu’s presence, Raya’s voice boomed throughout the forest. 

“What... are you talking about? The man seemed genuinely confused.

“Don’t lie, you were hired to take her, weren’t you?” Raya glowered, though the uncertainty the man now spouted made Raya rethink her attitude a little.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We didn’t kidnap her.” The man seemed a little frazzled by the accusation. “We don’t do stuff like that-”

“A strange cloaked figure, ring a bell?” Raya interjected. “Don’t lie. You were seen talking to them at the marketplace.”

The man was silent for a moment, before the eyes behind the mask lit up.“You’ve got it all wrong. That cloaked person  _ was  _ Namaari.  _ She  _ was the one who hired us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the plot thickens AGAIN, lol. Well, this is a mystery story at the end of the day.
> 
> Virana is probably the most difficult character to write for me because she acts antagonistic but just wants to the best by her tribe. I kinda wanted to deconstruct that part a bit with her realizing that she didn't only put her tribe to blame but accidentally set up her daughter as the scapegoat. I hope I was able to convey that well, I'm not a top tier writer and those emotions were difficult to convey properly. Also Raya still has her old habits of not trusting people, because as some people have commented, it won't just *snap fingers* change just like that. Even though she likes Namaari, it may not apply to everyone of Fang.
> 
> Also I could not not include at least *one* action sequence. First and foremost, RatLD is an action-oriented story and it just seemed fair to add one in. I had to find a way to creatively remove SIsu from the fight, just enough for it to happen, I hope that didn't seem too weird xD
> 
> We're a little under halfway there. I hope the payoff I've been building up justifies the big 'reveal' later ^^ Also thanks for all the support (kudos, comments, bookmarks, I'm glad people are enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing it! Until next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

Raya stared down the mercenaries, a little miffed by what they had just told her, though somehow, Raya wasn’t terribly surprised. It was like deep inside, she _knew_ this, but didn’t want to accept it. Because accepting it meant that the only other theory was that Namaari had left on her own. It had just been easier for Raya to believe that Namaari had been taken instead of leaving herself. This piece of information left no room for doubt that Namaari had left on her own.

Being quietly outed like this by her own realization frustrated Raya, not at Namaari or the mercenaries, but at herself. It had just been easier accepting the idea. But now there was no way Raya could avoid thinking about it.

Namaari had been orchestrating something behind everyone’s backs.

“What are you talking about?” Raya questioned, pushing away her worries for now. “She has the _entire_ Fang army at arms reach, _why_ would Namaari need to hire you?” A genuine question.

The Blazer leader shrugged. “Beats me. It’s none of our business to badger a client into revealing their motive.”

Raya exchanged glances with Sisu, who seemed just as confused as she was. It seemed the plot was a lot thicker than she thought. She sheathed her weapon and crossed her arms. “Looks like we have some talking to do.” She took out the bag of jades and showed it to the mercenary, whose eyes glinted behind his mask. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

* * *

-~*~-

“This is _delicious._ ” Sisu exclaimed, licking her plate clean. “Raya you _have_ to try some.”

Somehow, the Blazers were a lot nicer than their first impression painted them to be. With the misunderstanding out of the way, they were quick to welcome them (mostly Sisu) to the group. Upon entering their camp, Raya realized that they were less of a mercenary gang and more of a mercenary _clan._ Alongside the many adults, there were also children running about and playing. No wonder they were such a strong mercenary group.

“Um…” Raya glanced at the food before her. Her stomach grumbled, but she still was wary. She sparingly took a bite of it and Sisu was right, it _was_ good. But Raya still found it hard to relax enough to eat. Instead she turned to the Blazer leader, who was sitting across from her on the ground. “Didn’t expect to see children here.”

“We started out small, but over the years we grew - kids included.” The man’s demeanor was friendly despite the brash encounter they had earlier. It was like any animosity just evaporated. Raya wasn’t sure if it was because of the promise of money or maybe just Sisu. It was still pretty hard for her to let herself trust these people.

“The Blazers aren’t part of the Tail Tribe?”

“We are, technically. But we are sorta like our own branch. We don’t really follow the Tail Chief and we have our own rules, lives, jobs, you get the picture. They usually let us be.” He explained, relaxing his pose a little. “Though most people know us as just a band of nomadic mercs.”

Raya nodded. Now that the small talk was out of the way, she decided to bring up the real topic at hand. “So about Namaari…”

The man shifted in his seat, pulling up a bag that was next to him a bit closer. “It was about a few months ago when Namaari approached us. Seemed nervous about something; she had a black cloak on, we almost didn’t recognize her.”

“When was the last time you’ve seen her?

“‘Bout maybe three weeks ago? When we handed the last of our documents and got the last payment. We never saw her again after that.”

“I see…” Raya was a little disappointed. It matched the timeline, but it was a still a little disappointing that no one had really seen Namaari _after_ the two weeks.

“What I _can_ tell you is what she wanted from us.” The leader told her. “She offered us a lot of jade to retrieve some things for her: ancient text and scrolls, tons of it, from a _long_ time ago.”

“Scrolls?” Raya narrowed her eyes, both perplexed and incredulous of the information she was hearing. Virana had mentioned something like this before, but honestly Raya couldn’t believe it. “How old?”

“Dunno, some of the scrolls were so ancient it crumbled in our hands. It might have been written by the First People.” the man mused. “She had us run all over the place looking for them. We went as far as the edges of Spine and Tail to retrieve some of these.”

“What were they about?”

“No clue. Every text we grabbed was written in the language of the old, we couldn’t read it. No one else we knew could either, it’s a dead language.” He reached into a bag and put a scroll before Raya. “This was a duplicate of one of the documents we found for her. She didn’t want it and gave it back to us. We planned to sell it at a later date but no one wants things like these anymore.”

Raya reached over and picked the scroll, opening up to see what was inside. The mercenary was right, it was _really_ old text. But she could make out some of it, due to some language similarities, but nothing to form anything coherent. Amongst the long text on the side, there was an image of a person kneeling, stabbing a sword into the ground. Strangely enough, there was actually a circle drawn on where the sword’s tip was. The mark of the circle was different from any of the other writing on the page, it looked more recent. Had Namaari drawn it? 

“Sisu, what do you think of-” Raya turned to see that Sisu had disappeared. Fearing the worst, she frantically looked around. She soon spotted her dragon friend, prancing around the campfire, several children bouncing on her back. “Ah… _okay_. Not like we’re doing anything important right now.” She mumbled sarcastically to herself.

The man turned to see what Raya was looking at. A smile grew on his face. “It’s good to have the dragons back.” He looked back to Raya. “We have you to thank you for it, right?”

“It was more of a team effort.” corrected Raya. “Namaari was actually the one who made the final step.” Raya clutched the edges of the scroll, waiting for his response. 

“Hmm, really?” It didn’t look like he believed her, but he shrugged. “Doesn’t sound so crazy.”

“You actually believe that?” Raya asked, genuinely surprised that someone was acting like this. “That Namaari helped fix it in the end?”

“Was stone at the time, so I don’t know the full story. Missed the last couple years.” The man responded, popping a snack he seemed to materialize out of nowhere into his mouth. “But you were there. You have no reason to lie, why would I doubt you?” He chewed slowly. “Namaari was a pretty good client, paid well and knew her stuff. I’m sorry to hear she’s missing.”

Raya huffed, amazed that she had found the _one_ person who didn’t seem so hostile towards Fang or Namaari. “I’m just - the other tribes have been so tense… Aren’t you mad that the Fang started it all?”

“They broke it and in the end they fixed it. The blokes might have to fix a bit more, but it sounds right by my book.” The mercenary leader said with a shrug.

“I’ve misjudged you guys.” apologized Raya, shaking her head in disbelief. Even though Raya thought that she was pretty good at being neutral towards all the tribes, she still had some underlying biases built up over the years. 

“We get that a lot. Comes with being mercs.” The man nodded himself. “Same goes for you. We were just surprised. We’ve had other mercs poking around our camp and we didn’t want to take any chances. Had we known it was you and Sisudatu, we would have just welcomed you in.”

“Our mistake for coming at night.” Raya acknowledged, realizing that yet again, Sisu was right. Reaching into her pocket, she tossed the man the bag of jades, the last of her allowance. “As promised.”

“ _Cảm ơn_ , sister.” The man thanked, putting his hands together and bowing his head slightly.

Raya took a few more bites of the food given to her to quell her hungry stomach before she stood up and called for Sisu. The dragon came over, children still clinging onto her limbs.

“Time to go.” Raya told the dragon, crossing her arms and eyeing the kids. Some of them, intimidated by Raya’s serious look, let go of Sisu and ambled away, saying a goodbye to their new dragon friend. Despite Boun and Noi, Raya still wasn’t a kid person.

“Awww, already?”

“Did you forget why we're here?” Raya stated, a little frustrated.

Sisu thought for a moment and her expression turned grim. “Oh...right. Let’s go then.”

“We can come visit them later, if you want.” stated Raya, patting her friend on the shoulder. Sisu nodded eagerly. “I think Namaari would like hanging out with them.” She added.

Bidding goodbye to the Blazer mercenaries, Raya and Sisu returned to the Heartlands, with intention to return to the palace to gather their thoughts and rest. They were both _exhausted_ and at least a lie down was in order. With the help of Sisu’s rain walking, they arrived back in Raya’s room. Sisu just about collapsed on a rug.

“Are we turning in for tonight?” Sisu yawned.

Raya was exhausted, but she couldn’t sleep yet. “Not yet.” She put down the scrolls on her desk table. “This is all we got and I’m not sure this brings us anywhere close to finding Namaari.” Raya leaned against her desk, tucking her hair away and sighing.

“Aw, c’mon, Raya. We found out more about what happened to Namaari than her own people in two weeks,” assured Sisu, sitting up again.

“Maybe.” shrugged Raya. “The only real thing we confirmed was that Namaari hired mercenaries and looked into ancient stuff. That and…” Raya tightened her expression, “... she left willingly.”

Seeing her friend was clearly shaken up by this, Sisu gave her a comforting look. “It’s _not_ your fault, Raya,” she told her human friend. “I don’t think she left because of you. Chief Virana said Namaari was acting _way_ weird even before that last talk with her.”

“You don’t know how much I want to believe you, Sisu, but we don’t know that for sure. I could have been the last straw.” Raya shook her head and pulled her brain back from the pity pit. She couldn’t be there right now, not while this mystery still hung over their heads. “Let’s just review what we know so far.”

She opened up the scrolls on the desk and stared at the only two pieces of evidence she had. Looking at it all, Ray realized that they didn't really know much at _all._

“While you were off _playing_ , the merc leader told me that Namaari was the one who hired them to look for some ancient scrolls. Chief Virana told us the same thing, so that _must_ be true.” Raya huffed, a little frustrated by how little they knew. “But _why?_ And how do we even find out where she is just from _this?_ ” Was there even any hope at finding her _at all?_

Raya picked up the map, with the idea that this being a map, it would somehow tell Raya where to go. It had been in Namaari’s hands after all. Old erased writing or maybe just a smudge on the page, _anything_ would be helpful at this point.

No matter which way she held the thing, there didn’t seem anything out of the ordinary except that it was also pretty old. Maybe not as old as the other scroll, but older still. Frustrated, Raya flung herself on her bed, holding the map above her.

That’s when she noticed, as she held up the map to the light. The fiery glow of the lantern above revealed a strange grid on the paper not easily seen before. There were several dark dots on the map, marking several locations. Her heart thumped louder as she held the map closer to her face to investigate it, but she really couldn’t make it out. The hanging lantern just wasn’t bright enough.

“Sisu, take a look at this.” She sat up, turning to her friend, a little excited by the development.

But Sisu didn’t answer. Raya looked up to see the dragon with the most serious look she’s ever seen her have, her gaze fixated on the open scroll on the desk. She seemed deep in thought, her eyes almost fearful. She shook her head slightly as she scanned the contents of that scroll, murmuring something under her breath.

“Sisu?” asked Raya slowly, confused by friend’s behavior.

The sound of her name made the dragon turn slowly towards her. Upon meeting Raya’s eyes she snapped out of whatever daze she was in. “ _Huh?_ Oh, uh, as you were saying?” 

“... Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just um,” stammered Sisu, laughing nervously. “This old thing sure has some wacky graphics huh?”

“Right…” Raya agreed incredulously. It was then she realized. _That_ scroll had some ancient text on it. Sisu was probably _hundreds_ of years old. Does it mean she could read it? Raya would have been excited if it wasn’t for the fact that Sisu looked like she had been caught with her snout in the cookie jar. “You know what’s on that scroll, don’t you?”

“What scroll?” The dragon grinning sheepishly, her eyes darting side to side to avoid eye contact.

“ _The_ scroll, what else?” Raya pointed to, suspicious of Sisu’s odd behavior. “Sisu...do you know something?”

“ _What?_ Lil’ old me?” She tried to play it off, laughing nervously. “Why would I…” She trailed off, her expression falling. She gave Raya a wistful smile. “I guess I’m no good at this lying thing, huh?”

“So you _do_ know something.”

Sisu opened her mouth to speak, but she just stood agape for a while. In the depths of her eyes, Raya could tell she was afraid, but of what?

“Sorry, Raya. I _can’t._ ” Sisu finally said, drooping her head, curling her tail around herself. “I promised.”

Raya looked at Sisu, stunned that she would ever hear those words from Sisu. The dragon had always been a big advocate for not keeping secrets and lying, but Sisu just did _both_ of those things. Raya may not have understood what was on that scroll, but whatever was on it seemed to spook her dragon friend. What was on that scroll that would push the ever happy-go-lucky honest Sisu to _lie_?

“ _Why?_ ” Raya questioned, after finding her voice again.

“I-I…” Sisu looked genuinely torned. “I _really_ can’t, Raya.” 

“Sisu, if you know something about Namaari’s disappearance, you _have_ to tell me,” demanded Raya, the anger starting to get the better of her. She just couldn’t believe _Sisu_ was the one doing this to her.

“No, no, it’s not related to that.” Sisu quickly assured her. “It’s something else...I-” she cut herself off again.

“Then what is it?” Raya put the map scroll she had been holding on the bed next to her and stood up to confront Sisu. The dragon, intimidated, just lowered her head and backed herself into the corner. “What is on there that you can’t tell me?” Raya looked away, feeling hurt. “I thought you trusted me.”

Sisu looked horrified at this. “I _do!”_ She quickly rushed to Raya’s side. “I _do_ trust you, Raya. It’s just…” The dragon glanced at the scroll again. “It’s a _really_ messy thing, hopefully not really related to Namaari at all.” Raya’s expression didn’t change. “Once we find Namaari, I _promise_ I’ll tell you. _Please,_ trust me on this.”

Raya stared into Sisu’s sincere eyes, unsure on whether or not she could accept those terms. It seemed so outlandish that Sisu was the one hiding things like this, Raya thought the dragon would be the one stable pole in her life she could _always_ trust. Inklings of Raya’s own distrustful nature crept to the surface, telling her to turn her back on Sisu. But Raya quickly caught this and took a step back. Flashes of the entire adventure flitted across her mind and she sighed. She would just have to trust Sisu, whatever she knew, maybe it was better that Raya didn't know now.

“Fine, you promise?”

“I _promise_.” Sisu agreed eagerly, grabbing Raya’s hand to emphasize her sincerity.

Sulking a little, Raya withdrew her hand and took the map she had put aside. She approached one of the standing lanterns in the corner of the room, with Sisu meekly trailing behind. She held up the map close to the light and sure enough, that strange looking grid with the dots appeared again.

“Look, something shows up when I hold it to the light.” She pointed to several of the dots. “All these dots mark locations in Kumandra.” 

“You think Namaari could be at one of them?” asked Sisu, still acting a little apprehensive. “But there’s so many, which one could she have gone to?” She was trying her best to act more receptive.

Raya spent a few more seconds scanning the map, then she glanced at the other scoll. She quickly retrieved it, putting the map scroll underneath her arm to hold while she held this one to the light. Sadly, there didn’t seem to be any hidden markings on this scroll, other than the obvious black circle. Then, after staring at the circle, something clicked in her head.

“Sisu, can you hold this up to the light?”

“Sure, okay.” The dragon seemed eager to make things up to Raya, it was obvious, though she pretended not to notice.

Sisu took the scroll from Raya and held it up in front of the light. Just like before, the grid with all the dots showed up again. Raya then held up her scroll in front of Sisu’s and as if it was meant to be, the circle on the other scroll overlapped one of the dots.

“That must be where Namaari is!” Raya exclaimed, relieved. Namaari _had_ to have marked this…right?

There was still a small possibility that they were going the wrong way, but it was the only chance they got.

Sisu didn’t look quite as pleased as Raya thought she would be, in fact, she just looked more worried, but she smiled anyway. “Then let’s bring her home.” Then in a much quieter tone that Raya could barely catch, “before it’s too late...”

Confused, Raya turned to look Sisu in the eyes. When it was clear that she heard the last part, Sisu just gave her a very sad look. It would take a little while longer for Raya to understand why Sisu was so sad. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter than the others since it's a thinking-eureka connector chapter to help tie the story altogether (I had actually written the first chapter and the last chapter of this story first). To make up for it, the next chapter is much longer and has a lot more...hmmm, 'content' in it. We're actually at the halfway point of this story.
> 
> I know it could have been easier to give the Tail Blazer names, but I wanted to emphasize that they're not really that important to the story even if they had a key item, just background characters for Raya and Sisu to interact with in the story. But as a fun trivia, they're sorta based on how the Nomads work in Cyberpunk 2077. A tiny reference since the leader refers to Raya as 'sister'. Also that word in that same sentence is 'Thank you' in Vietnamese, thought I would add it in for fun. Since Raya interacted with someone who didn't like Fang, I thought it would be nice for Raya to also meet someone who doesn't mind them so much, to help build up to some stuff.  
> I do hope that they weren't too irritating or unbelievable ^^"
> 
> Thanks everyone for the wonderful comments, kudos, and bookmarks! See you next chapter!
> 
> EDIT: Small edit, my editor and cousin told me to bump up the rating from Gen to Teens and Up because of some incoming themes. So that's changed, just as a small warning.

**Author's Note:**

> Most of the story has already been written already, but I'm still going to take my time posting it because I want to go back and edit anything I need to to make it as best as it can be. I don't have a concrete upload schedule, I will be uploading the next chapter when I feel it's right (not too long though)!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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